Слово 24. Послание к некоему брату естественному и духовному, который, живя в мире и желая видеться с Исааком, убеждал и умолял в письмах своих прийти к нему

We are not as strong as you think, blessed one; and perhaps you do not know my weakness and the fact that my death is not difficult for you, 139 and therefore, as if inflamed by nature according to its custom, you constantly ask me for something that we should not worry about, that you should not desire either. Do not ask me, brother, for this, which only gives peace to the flesh and its wisdom, but take care of the salvation of my soul. A little more time, and we will pass from this age. How many faces will I meet when I come to you! How many human customs and places will I see until I return to my place! How many reasons for thoughts will my soul receive when meeting people! How much embarrassment she will suffer from the passions that have awakened in her, from which she has calmed down somewhat! This is not unknown to you either. That it is harmful for a monk to see the worldly, you yourself know it. And look what a change occurs in the mind of someone who has been silent with himself for a long time, when he suddenly falls into it again, and sees and hears what is unusual for him. If someone who is in asceticism and is still fighting with his opponent is harmed by meeting with monks when they are not close to his dispensation, then judge, into what well will we fall 140, having acquired knowledge through especially long experience? Oh, if only we could get rid of the sting of our enemy! Therefore, do not ask me to do this unnecessarily. Let us not be deceived by those who claim that there is no harm for us from hearing and seeing something, for we are supposed to be the same in our thoughts both in the desert, and in the world, and in the cell, and outside it, and we do not change in our meekness, and do not accept bad change, and when meeting with persons and things we do not feel the anxiety of passions. Those who say this, even if they accept wounds, do not know this; but we have not yet achieved this mental health; for we have stinking ulcers on us, and they will boil with worms if they are not taken care of for even one day, and they will remain unbandaged, not covered with a plaster and tied with bandages. You consider it convenient that which could lead to my death. You might be interested in: